Readings

• Gliessman, S.R. Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture. Chapter 7. Genetic resources in agroecosystems. 1998.
• Acquaah, G. Principles of Crop Production: Theory, Techniques, and Technology. Chapter 4 (part). Crop improvement. 2002.
• Crow, J.F. 90 years ago: the beginning of hybrid maize. Genetics. 148:923-928. 1998

Key Questions

Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture

• What are the sources of phenotypic variation within a species?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of monoculture with crops that have been genetically bred for specific traits?
• Compare traditional plant breeding and genetic engineering.
• What are the author’s concerns about genetic engineering?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of gene banks?

Principles of Crop Production

• What biological mechanisms existing in plants encourage self and cross pollination?
• What are some of the common plant breeding objectives in agricultural crop development? What are some of the factors that a plant breeder would focus on in order to achieve these breeding objectives?